Sprinkler for automatic fire-extinguishers



(Nd Mode 1.)

A. F. NAGLE.

SPRINKLER FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHBRS. No. 419,705. PatentedJan.21, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS F. NAGLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPRINKLER FOR AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISHERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,705, dated January21, 1890.

Application filed July 16, 1889- Serial No. 317,711. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS F. NAGLE, a citizen of the United States,residing'at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and-useful Improvements in Sprinklers for AutomaticFire-Extinguishers, which are fully set forth in the followingspecification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a sprinkler embodying myimprovements; Fig.

2, a vertical section of the same, taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 1; Fig.3, a plan section of the same, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 2, andpartly broken away; Fig. 4:, a plan section of the same,taken on theline 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig, 5, a detail side elevation of the springcase,and Fig. 6 a detail plan section showing a modified fastening.

In the usual systems of automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus theservice-pipes distributed over a building and in the rooms thereofterminate in sprinklers, sometimes called sprinkler-heads, which areclosed by a suitable valve normally retained upon its seat, butautomatically released in case of fire when a certain degree of heat isreached.

My present invention relates to this automatic sprinkler orsprinkler-head; and it consists in an arrangement of the closing-valvewithin the head and Jwith its seat inside thereof, whereby it is held inposition by the water-pressure and the combination therewith of certaindevices for opening said valve against the Water-pressure in case offire.

I will proceed to describe one way in which I have carried out myinvention in practical form, and will then point out definitely inclaims the special improvements which I believe to be new and wish tosecure by Letters Patent.

In the drawings, Arepresents the nozzle of the sprinkler, which isenlarged somewhat near the orifice to form a chamber a, within which isconstructed a suitable valve-seat at around the outlet-opening. At theother end the nozzle terminates in a threaded stem a whereby the nozzleis secured in the ends of the distributing water-pipes. Within thechamber of the nozzle is a suitable valve 13,

which is fitted to the seat a, and will obviously be held thereto by thepressure of the water in the pipes, and that, too, whether the wet ordry system is employed. Behind this valve is a light coiled spring 0,held in position between the valve and a pin 0, extending across thethreaded end of the nozzle, or in any other suitable manner. This springassists in retaining the valve in position, and keeps it upon its seatwhen not under pressure of the water in the pipes. v

The Valve B may be made slightly conical in form, as shown in thedrawings, in which case the cone portion is somewhat smaller than thehead, thereby providing a seat I) for the retaining-spring, and acircular recess 0' is drilled into the valve from the face, for apurpose to be presently explained.

The distributer D is a cone-shaped shell, which is provided withprojections 01 upon its outer conical surface, which surface is arrangedtoward the nozzle of the sprinkler, and the distributor is attached tothe latter by means of threaded rods or posts E, which enter threadedears or lugs 6 upon the circumference of the nozzle and at their otherends pass into threaded seats 01 in the distributer. It will be seenthat the distributer is thus held in a stationary position withreference to the nozzle, but by means of the threaded rods may beadjusted nearer to or farther from the nozzle, as may be desired. At theapex of the distributer a square or angular opening d is out. A rod orplunger F is passed through this central opening in the distributer, andis provided with an angular sect-ion f, near the center thereof, whichis of angular shape corresponding to the said opening in thedistributer, so that the plunger may slide back and forth in theopening, but cannot turn therein. The end f of this rod toward thenozzle is round, and is adapted to easily enter the correspondingcircular recess in the valve B. The other end of the rod is a threadedsection f and between this threaded portion and the angular section isane'nlarged collar f A nut G is fitted to turn upon the threaded end ofthe plunger and is provided with a wide flange or disk extending outwardhorizontally from its outer face, as seen '1 in Figs. 2and 3 of thedrawings. This flange is circular and is of about the same diameter asthe distributer, and has a series of notches g cut in its edge. A cap orcover H is made a little larger than the disk of the nut and is providedwith a flange h, adapted to fit over the said disk and just outside therim or edge of the distributer, to which it is fastened by screws h. Aseries of short slots h is cut in the flange just within the cap portionor the cover. The direction of these slots is around the cap, and theirnumber is the same as the notches in the edge of the nut-disk. A coiledspring I, something like a clock-spring, is arranged within the flangeor disk of the nut and between it and the edge of the distributer, asseen in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The inner end of this spring is fastenedto the nut, as seen at t, and the outer end is fastened to the rim orflange of the cover by a small screw 2', both fastenings being shown inFig. 2. Now, it is obvious that the nut will be held in place by thespring, but at the same time may be rotated, and also that the rotationof the nut will set the plunger lengthwise, the latter being held fromrotating by its bearing in the distributer, through which, however, itis free to slide. It is also obvious that when the nut is rotated in theproper direction to set the plunger outward through the distributertoward the nozzle it will, if carried far enough, force the valve inwardfrom its seat, thereby opening the nozzle. turned within thecover-easing in a direction to wind up the spring thereon, it is evidentthat the tensile force of the spring when released will rotate the nut,and if the latter is properly applied to the plunger when the spring isthus released obviously this rotation will automatically open thenozzle, as just described.

Now, to adapt this device for use in an automatic fire-extinguishingapparatus, it is only necessary to secure. the nut in positionwith thespring wound up by some device readily released by heat. For thispurposeI provide a series of small stop-pins or ratchets K. These arepreferably made of wire and are separate and independent of each otherand are bent centrally to form a square shoulder toward one end of thepiece, while toward the other end it is inclined and the two ends arestraight, as seen in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The central bent portion ofthese stop-pins or ratchets is adapted to enter the slots in thecap-flange heretofore described, and to engage with thesquare-shouldered notches in the edge of the nut-disk heretoforementioned, and as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. When in position, asseen in said figure, these separate stops or ratchets are fastened tothe outside of the cap-flange bya little solder applied to the ends ofeach. In Fig. 6 a modification of this stop is shown. Here a slightflange If the nut is end to the said flange. The space in the slot backof the pin is filled with solder W.

This device is prepared for use by first arranging the valve properlywithin the nozzle and securing the distributer thereto in suitableadjustment. The plunger is inserted in proper position and the nut andspring, already applied to the cover-casing, as decirbed, are turnedupon the end of the plunger and the casing continuously rotated untilthe spring is wound up. The small ratchets are then inserted through thecap-flange, and by properly adjusting the parts brought into en gagementwith the nut-disk and then fastened in position by solder. The cover isthen secured to the distributer, as already described.

Now, when these sprinklers are in position upon the distributing-pipes,if a fire breaks out in any room the heat will soon melt the solderfastening of the small ratchets and the said ratchets will be thrown outof their slots, thereby releasing the nut and permitting it to yield tothe force of the coiled spring, whereby it is immediately rotated in adirection to force the plunger outward and raise the valve from itsseat, when of course the water will at once escape through the nozzlesand will be scattered in all directions by coming in contact with theconical distributer.

If desired, an annular disk L may be arranged within the casing betweenthe edge of the distributor and the coiled spring for the purpose ofsustaining the spring and preventing sagging thereof in cases where thesprinklers are set with the distributer upward. I have shown thissupport in Fig. 2 of the drawings. It is not, however, absolutelyessential to the operation of the device and is not at all necessarywhen the sprinklers are applied to the distributer depending from thepipes.

It will be seen from the above description that as the device whichsecures the automatic mechanism is divided into several distinct andseparate parts the resistance is correspondingly distributed, and so theamount of solder required to hold the stopping device in position iscorrespondingly divided, thereby requiring onlya comparatively smallquantity at each of the separate stop-pins. This makes the deviceextremely sensitive, so that the release is effected quickly and at alow degree of heat, while at the same time taking the ratchets togethera perfectly reliable fastening is secured. Now, in the sprinklersgenerally used at the present time there are at least three defects intheir operation, namely: first, occasional accidental re lease, therebyflooding the premises; second, occasional failure to open in case offire, and, third, destruction by corrosion.

In the improved sprinkler described above a number of advantages areobtained which entirely obviate these defects. The valve is closed bythe pressure of the fluid in the pipes and opened by a screw whose nutis rotated by a long coiled clock-spring, when the several solderedstops, which prevent the nut from rotating, are released by the actionof heat. From these features of construction the following advantagesare obtained:

First. Great sensitiveness is secured by using a small amount of solderaround each of the small stop-pins.

Second. Great strength is obtained by dispensing with the necessity ofhaving a solder joint strong enough to withstand the violent concussionof water-hammer and by substituting a slight force moving through agreat distance for operating the valve instead of a great force actingthrough a short distance, as is usually the case; hence a very smallsolder joint will resist the small force.

Third. An accidental opening, occasioned by a defect in the solderjoint,is prevented by having multiple joints, each of sufficient strength toresist the small strain brought upon it by the spring.

Fourth. Excessive strain caused by the screw used to close manysprinklers is avoided by not closing the sprinkler with a screw orsubjecting the solder joint to the action of a screw at any time.

Fifth. Leakages are prevented by closing the valve by the pressure ofthe fluid in the pipes.

Sixth. It is impossible for the valve to be opened until thestop-ratchets are entirely removed, so that escaping water cannot strikethe partially-released joint, thereby cooling the solder. Thedistributer is stationary,

and consequently cannot fail to act, as is sometimes the case when theusual movable distributer fails to drop.

Seventh. This sprinkler can be taken apart and examined and put togetheragain without breaking the solder joints.

The defects mentioned above are avoided by the advantages justspecified, for- First. Accidental flooding is prevented by removing theprincipal causes, namely, the effect of water-hammer upon valves closingfrom the outside, by putting the valve on the inside of the nozzle anddisconnecting it entirely from the solder joints; also, by obviating thestrain produced by closing the sprinkler with a screw, and by reducingthe danger of accidental breaking of solder joints by multiplying saidjoints.

Second. Sprinklers sometimes fail to open in case of fire, becauselevers, journals, and fulcrums in the usual devices are liable to stickfast after lapse of time, and, further, because the valves are sometimescemented to their seats by sediment and other impurities in the water.This defect is entirely obviated in the present instance because thevalve is opened by an actual positive force, and does not depend uponthe light air or Water pressure for this opening.

Third. The destructive effect of corrosion is obviated by having allthey moving parts incasedpractically air-tight, and the entire sprinklermay be thoroughly coated with paraifine or similar protecting material,and may be thoroughly air-tight, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In automatic sprinklers for fire-extinguishers, a nozzle, incombination with a valve seated therein and closed by the-pressure inthe pipes, a reciprocating plunger having a threaded section, and anautomatically-actuated nut, whereby when the latter is released theplunger is driven toward the valve to open it, substantially as and forthe purposes specified.

2. In automatic sprinklers for fire-extinguishers, a nozzle, incombination with a valve seated therein and held in place by thepipepressure, a reciprocating plunger mounted in an angular bearing andprovided with a threaded section, a rotating nut applied to the threadedportion of the plunger, a spring applied to the nut to rotate thelatter, and a fusible fastening which holds the nut against the actionof the spring when wound up, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

3. In automatic sprinklers, the nozzle A, in combination with the valveB, seated within the nozzle, so as to be closed by the waterpressure,the reciprocating plunger F, provided with an angular bearing-section fand a threaded section f, the rotary nut G, provided with theflange-disk g, notched at its edge, the actuating-spring I, the cap H,and the independent fastening-stops secured by solder to thecover-casing, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. The sprinkler-nozzle A, in combination with the internally-seatedvalve B, the stationary distributer D, provided with a central angularopening 19 a plunger F, seated at one end in the valve and provided withthe angular section f, fitting within the said opening in thedistributer, an automatic device adapted to force the plunger inwardtoward the valve, and a fusible stop which holds the device fromoperating until released by the heat, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

5. The reciprocating valve-openin g plunger F, in combination with therotating actuatingnut G, provided with a projecting flange 9, having aseries of notches in its edge, the cover-case H, provided with a seriesof slots 72. the coiled spring I, fastened at one end to the nut and atthe other to the casing, and a series of separate stops fitted to enterthe slots in the casing and engage with the notches in the nut-flangeand secured to the said casing by solder, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

6. The sprinkler-nozzle A, in combination with the internally-seatedvalve B, the spring 0, behind said valve, the stationary distributer D,the valve-opening plunger F, having IIO a bearing in said distributer,and the springactuated nut G, forcing the plunger inward to open theValve, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

7. The sprinkler-nozzle A, in combination with the internally-seatedvalve B, the stationary cone-shaped distributer D, the valveopeningplunger F, mounted to slide in said distributer, the revolving nut G,the actuating-spring I, and the cap H, covering said nut 10 and springand secured to the rim of the distributer by means of a flange h,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

AUGUSTUS F. NAGLE.

Witnesses:

- ALICE MoIvER, J. M. TEACHER.

